Marie Poulin

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**Hon. Marie Poulin**


In office
1995 – [Present]
Appointed by	Jean Chretien
Province	Ontario
Born	June 21, 1945 (age 61) Sudbury, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Profession(s)	deputy minister, broadcast executive, President of the Liberal Party of Canada
Spouse	Bernard Poulin

Marie-Paule (Charette) Poulin, BA, MSS, LLD (Hon.) (born June 21, 1945 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Canadian senator and President of the Liberal Party of Canada. She is married to international portrait artist Bernard Poulin.

1 Education
2 Professional Life
3 Political Life
4 See also

[edit] Education

Poulin was raised in Sudbury and Haileybury. She was a classmate and friend of MP Diane Marleau in high school; Poulin and Marleau have remained friends throughout their careers. [1]

She was educated at Laurentian University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1966, and the Université de Montréal, obtaining her Master's of Social Science in 1969. In 1995, Laurentian awarded her an honorary Doctor of Laws.

[edit] Professional Life

In her career, Marie Poulin was a deputy minister in the government of Canada and a broadcast executive. She was the founding chair and CEO of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal, a federal agency for self-employed workers in the arts. She was also a vice-president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and established the network's French language service in Northern Ontario (CBON).

[edit] Political Life

Marie Poulin was appointed to the Senate in 1995 by Jean Chrétien, representing the senate division of Northern Ontario for the Liberal Party of Canada. She was appointed to succeed Jean Noël Desmarais following his death in office.

As a Senator, she is a member of the Senate committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, and the Senate committee on National Security and Defense. As well, she is a past member of the committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. She chaired the Senate committee on Transport and Communications and the subcommittee on Communications; leading the review of Canada's national and international position in communications and telecommunications.

She was the first woman to chair the Senate Liberal caucus, and the first Senator to chair the Northern Ontario Liberal caucus. The Senator holds several awards of distinction for her commitment and success.

Marie Poulin ran for the presidency of the party at the party's leadership convention in 2006. She defeated former MP Tony Ianno and party activist Bobbi Ethier to win the election. She is the second woman and first francophone woman to hold this position.